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Overview

Morning Prayers last no more than 5 minutes of the Form Period, they follow a weekly cycle throughout the year, and comprise a Reflection section followed by a Prayer section. 

They are designed to be simple to use, comprehensive in content and engaging to pupils.  

  • Simple.

Every Form in the school has a Form Teacher, normally with an assistant, and two Form Prefects from the Upper Sixth Form. No assumptions can be made about the piety or religious knowledge of a Form Teacher, so these Morning Prayers had to be simple to use, demanding no creative input. They are designed to be self explanatory.

  • Comprehensive. 

The content of the Morning Prayers Cycle aims to be complementary to the RE Curriculum, to be theme-related to the Seasonal and Sanctoral Cycle of the Liturgical Calendar, as well as to devote weeks to each of the Virtues, (Cardinal and Theological) and to other appropriate themes that occur, including the School Motto (Respice Finem), and the School’s Patrons (St Philip Neri, Blessed JH Newman, and the English martyrs as House Patrons). 

  • Engaging.

Morning Prayers don’t last for more than five minutes, the texts are simple to read, and accompany a PowerPoint of relevant images from Christian art to illustrate and inspire. 

The week runs as follows:-

Day

Reflection Section

Prayer Section

MONDAY

Reflection on Theme

Intercessionary Prayers

TUESDAY

Reflection on Theme

Intercessionary Prayers

WEDNESDAY

Reflection on Theme

Intercessionary Prayers

THURSDAY

Decade of the Rosary    (Mystery related to Theme)

FRIDAY

Recital of Prayer    (Prayer related to Theme)

The cycle is designed to be repeated every year, so it needs to be rich enough to remain interesting to pupils from the time they first join the school in Year 7 until when they leave in Year 13. 

By the end of their time in the school, they should be familiar enough with the content for it to have been ingrained into their Faith memory. 

Format

 The text and images are arranged in weekly units. 

  • Script.

The texts for each week are in PDF format, and are able to be reduced into a single A4 sheet, double-sided and folded in landscape layout. 

  • Pictures.

The corresponding images are in PowerPoint format, with one image to accompany the Reflection followed by another for the Prayer section, along with the texts of the prayers for reading and recitation.

They allow some flexibility for the Form Teacher without  being demanding of them. The images are mostly taken from traditional Christian art, widely available on the internet, and it is supposed that there are no copyright issues.